HONOLULU -- The number of deaths caused by people using crystal methamphetamine, or ice, is skyrocketing this year. Honolulu's medical examiner said that proves that more and more people are using ice with deadly effects.

The number of crystal methamphetamine-related deaths has already doubled on Oahu in the last five years. The ice death count looks like it's headed even higher this year.

"You've heard the stories about people on ice who die in confrontations with police, but most ice deaths happen quietly, sending people to the morgue after their bodies just can't keep up with the crystal meth in their systems," Honolulu Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kanthi De Alwis said. "That really shows that it is really a problem in our community and that people probably do not realize that this drug kills."

As of the middle of May, not even halfway through the year, the city medical examiner's office already recorded 38 deaths connected to crystal methamphetamine. So, we're well on the way to exceeding last year's total of 68.

Crystal Methamphetamine-Related Deaths:

2005 (mid-May) - 38 deaths

2004 - 68 deaths

2003 - 56 deaths

2002 - 62 deaths

2001 - 54 deaths

2000 - 34 deaths

In general, ice deaths have steadily increased since the year 2000, when just 34 people died from ice use.

De Alwis said ice use is rising.

"It is a direct reflection of the number of people who are using crystal meth in our community. That's why the deaths have gone up," she said.

De Alwis said most of the ice deaths handled at the morgue are not from trauma, but from ice's effects on the heart and brain. For example, she showed KITV 4 News a picture of an ice victim, who died of a heart attack. The image showed a weakened heart muscle.

"The blood pressure goes up and the heart gets enlarged. It also blocks the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle," De Alwis said.

In another picture (right) of the brain of a stroke victim who used ice, a black area shows where blood entered the brain, with fatal consequences.

She showed KITV 4 News her stack of death cases. Many of them include crystal methamphetamine cases.

"One case this year was an 18-year-old boy, who took crystal meth, went into the shower and just was found dead with a heart attack," De Alwis said.

By midafternoon Friday, the medical examiner got word of yet another possible ice-related death. It was a man who suffered a heart attack. That would make 39 cases so far this year.

She also said the suicide rate among ice users is about three times higher than those who don't use the drug.